IRIN-WA Update 181 of Events in West Africa, (Saturday-Monday)
3-6 April 1998

Sierra Leone: Rebels fortify diamond city

Ousted junta forces have fortified the diamond town
of Koidu, 260 km east of Freetown, and beefed up their
presence in the city, Reuters reported Friday, quoting
military and government sources. Sources close to the
West African intervention force, ECOMOG, said the rebels
had made Koidu their headquarters. Civilians fleeing
Koidu said ECOMOG had taken a string of diamond towns
in the surrounding Kono district. ECOMOG sources quoted
by Reuters said ECOMOG troops had surrounded Koidu
and were poised to attack. A local humanitarian source
in Sierra Leone told IRIN it appeared ECOMOG would
attack northwards from Daru, while other ECOMOG troops
from Makeni coordinated the assault from the west in
a pincer-style movement.

Residents fleeing Koidu said thousands of civilians
remained trapped and hunger and disease were killing
people every day.

Leader of ousted junta still in country

Sierra Leone's government spokesman, Septimus Kaikai,
told a news conference on Friday that the leader of
the ousted military junta, Johnny Paul Koroma, was
still in Sierra Leone, while the deputy leader of the
Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Sam Bockari, had
fled to neighbouring Liberia, news agencies reported
Friday. Without giving any precise information on the
whereabouts of Koroma and other members of the junta,
Kaikai said the government hoped Koroma would not be
able to leave the country. Referring to Bockari, Kaikai
said the RUF number two knew the Liberian border area
"very well" and could have easily walked
across the border into Liberia. According to AFP, recent
press reports in Freetown have alleged that both Koroma
and Bockari had been airlifted out of the country by
a Liberian military helicopter. But the agency reported
the Liberian government possessed no such aircraft.

Kaikai said he had no knowledge of Bockari being "airlifted"
to neighbouring Liberia. He said the reinstated civilian
government hoped "no country would aid or abet
in any way, shape or form the criminal activities of
people wanting to, or who have created mayhem in another
country", AFP reported. The report noted that
Liberian President Charles Taylor helped the RUF when
it launched its rebellion in 1991.

Sixty alleged junta collaborators to be deported

Meanwhile, the Sierra Leone government is expected to
deport another 60 foreigners, mainly Gambians, for
alleged collaboration with the ousted junta, AFP reported,
quoting 'The Vision' daily Monday. The attorney-general's
office was apparently studying a list of suspected
collaborators, which includes Lebanese, Guinean, Malian
and Gambian nationals. There was evidence they had
helped the ousted junta with cash and other badly needed
commodities to sustain the regime, according to the
paper.

Refugee NGO assesses situation

Refugees International, a US-based NGO, following a
three-week assessment mission to West Africa, has recommended
that UNHCR be given additional staff and resources
in Guinea to deal with the new influx of Sierra Leone
refugees. It estimated that some 85,000 Sierra Leonean
refugees had fled into the forest region of Guinea
in recent months.

The conditions of Sierra Leonean refugees in Liberia
have been deteriorating fast due to poor sanitation
and lack of clean drinking water. RI noted that adult
men and male children aged 7-15 were conspicuously
absent from the refugee population. RI recommended
moving the Sierra Leonean refugees further into Liberia
away from the border to deny the junta the opportunity
to militarise the camps. It also recommended disarming
the refugees to avoid a "replay of the eastern
Zaire camps, where intimidators gained control."
The most vulnerable should be transported immediately
by truck before the onset of the rainy season, RI said.

LIBERIA: Government asks UN to lift arms embargo

Liberian President Charles Taylor on Friday said his
government had asked the UN to lift an arms embargo
imposed in 1992 during the civil war, news agencies
reported. Speaking at a press conference, Taylor said
the request was based on the establishment of a democratically-elected
government last year. He said the request was before
the UN sanctions committee, adding the issue of Liberian
compliance with the arms embargo was a matter for the
UN Security Council not ECOMOG. Star Radio quoted Taylor
on Friday as saying that the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) had lifted the arms embargo.
But an ECOMOG official quoted by the radio said the
force was unaware of the lifting of the embargo at
any level.

Meanwhile, Taylor called on Nigerian leader General
Sani Abacha, who is also ECOWAS chairman, to put ECOMOG
officers "in their rightful places" as they
have "overstepped" their bounds. ECOMOG has
accused the Liberian government of recruiting and heavily
re-arming former faction fighters, AFP reported.

Arms issued under strict guidelines, Taylor claims

Taylor said arms were only issued to government security
forces under strict conditions, Star Radio reported
on Friday. He said only Special Security Service officers
were permitted to carry arms around the Executive Mansion
and the president. Soldiers of the Armed Forces of
Liberia (AFL) were not allowed to carry arms outside
the barracks. Police officers had to keep their arms
in their vehicles. Taylor promised disciplinary action
against any security officer violating these restrictions.

A former member of the defunct Council of State, Dr
Vamba Kanneh, Sunday welcomed these restrictions, saying
the rampant display of arms had been perceived as an
attempt to suppress and intimidate Liberians.

Repatriation slows down

The US-based NGO, Refugees International, said the repatriation
of Liberian refugees has run into problems. Budget
cuts in Liberia have stalled the implementation of
community-based projects, while logistics problems
have further complicated the repatriation process.
Of 125 European Union (EU) donated trucks meant to
ease the return of Liberian refugees, 60 were still
stuck at the port awaiting spare parts. In Guinea,
refugees had been promised seeds and tools on their
return home, but not all refugees had received the
package because supplies had run out. A UNHCR policy
to repatriate only vulnerable refugees and those whose
homes were more than 25 km from the border also hampered
repatriation, leaving a large number to their own devices,
RI noted.

GUINEA: At least 20 Guinean opposition members arrested

At least 20 Guinean opposition members were arrested
on Friday and Saturday following a political meeting
organised by the Rassemblement du Peuple Guineen (RPG)
in Beyla, 850 km east of Conakry, AFP reported Sunday.
Two RPG deputies, Momory Camara and Mamadi Famany Conde,
were also arrested. Guinean security minister Sekou
Koureissy Conde confirmed the arrests to AFP but expressed
anger at the incident and said efforts were under way
to obtain their "immediate release".

Meanwhile, an opposition coalition, Coordination de
l'Opposition Democratique en Guinee (CODEM), threatened
to boycott national assembly sessions scheduled to
commence this week if their spokesman, Mamadou Ba,
and others were not released, AFP reported on Sunday.
Ba, also leader of the Union pour la Nouvelle Republique
(UNR), was arrested ten days ago following clashes
between residents of Kaporo, a neighbourhood in Conakry
earmarked for demolition, and security forces.

IMF approves US$ 31 million loan

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday approved
a US$ 31 million loan for Guinea to support its economic
reform programme through to year 2000, Reuters reported
on Friday. The programme called for a series of fiscal
and structural reforms to "create appropriate
conditions for sustainable and diversified economic
growth".

NIGERIA: Police stop rally by presidential candidate

Nigerian police on Saturday stopped a rally by presidential
candidate, Mohammed Dikko Yusufu, in the south-eastern
city of Calabar, 570 km south-east of Lagos, AFP reported.
A police permit granted to Yusufu, the Grassroots Democratic
Movement(GDM) leader, was cancelled at the last minute.
A party official said a letter from the police stated
the permit given earlier for the rally had been withdrawn
on security grounds, AFP reported, quoting independent
daily 'The Guardian'. Yusufu has launched a media campaign
to support his bid for the August presidential elections.
According to AFP, his campaign has been very critical
of the present regime.

Senior journalist arrested

Danlami Nmodu, a senior journalist working with Nigerian
magazine 'Tell' was arrested by security forces on
27 March, AFP said Monday. There has been no official
confirmation of Danlami's arrest. Two other senior
journalists working for 'Tell', Onome Osifo-Whiskey
and George Mbah, are in detention.

SENEGAL: President proposes public funding for political
parties

In a speech Friday celebrating the 38th anniversary
of Senegal's independence, President Abdou Diouf proposed
financing political parties from public funds and giving
the opposition official status after next month's legislative
elections, according to news reports. Explaining the
need for public funding of political parties, Diouf
said the "viability of democracy" hinged
on their capacity to fulfill their role. He added that
official status for the opposition would enable it
to "enjoy its unalienable rights and contribute
more effectively to the proper functioning of our institutions".
Diouf said the recently created National Elections
Observatory (ONEL) and the appointment of a new interior
minister were part of the efforts to enhance the reliability
and success of the elections, according to PANA. Diouf
also called for dialogue and negotiation with the separatist
rebels in the southern province of Casamance provided
national unity were respected. He also praised the
army's achievements against the rebels, AFP reported.

In a related development Saturday, 20 political parties
submitted their lists for the legislative elections
in May.

Mauritanian human rights activist expelled

Cheikh Saad Bouh Camara, a Mauritanian human rights
activist, was expelled from Senegal on Friday after
giving a press conference in Dakar, AFP reported. A
statement by the Senegalese NGO Rencontre africaine
pour la defense des droits de l'homme (RADDHO) condemned
the government's decision to expel the activist, saying
it was a violation of the freedom of expression. Camara
was charged earlier this year in Mauritania with allegedly
disseminating false information in a French television
documentary on slavery.

GUINEA-BISSAU: Minister accused of arming Senegalese
rebels

The suspended former Guinea-Bissau army chief of staff,
Brigadier General Ansumane Mane, has accused Defence
Minister Samba Lamine Mane and a group of officers
of smuggling arms to Senegalese rebels, AFP reported
Sunday. In a letter published by the press, Ansumane
Mane, suspended for negligence, said Guinea-Bissau
President Joao Bernardo Vieira had "permitted"
arms trafficking to separatist fighters in the southern
Senegalese Casamance province. He added his suspension
from the army was linked to a "shady plan to mount
a coup d'etat" and demanded that the "truly
guilty" be punished.

Meanwhile, in letter addressed to a parliamentary investigative
committee, some 1,500 veterans of Guinea-Bissau's war
of liberation from Portugal accused the defence minister
of corruption and demanded his resignation. There has
been no official reaction. In recent months, the Senegalese
press has accused the Guinea-Bissau government of aiding
the Casamance separatists. Viera is mediator in the
Casamance conflict.

NIGER: Priority is to pay debts, not salaries

Niger Finance Minister Ide Niandou said Friday his government's
priority was to service its external debt, Reuters
reported. Niandou said it would be "cowardice"
for the government to back down for reasons of short-term
expediency, adding that "a state is not just about
paying salaries". Soldiers mutinied over pay arrears
in February and there have been several public sector
strikes over pay arrears.

GHANA: World Bank loan for health sector

The World Bank has given Ghana a US$ 35 million soft
loan to increase and improve access to health and social
services, news agencies reported on Saturday. The programme
aims to reduce population growth and the incidence
of malnutrition.

WEST AFRICA: Guinea worm disease practically eradicated

Former US President Jimmy Carter announced in the Malian
capital, Bamako, that Guinea worm disease had been
eradicated by 95 per cent in 16 African countries after
seven years' intensive work, AFP reported Sunday. Participants
at the 7th meeting in the Malian capital launched a
two-year programme to fully eradicate the disease.

Abidjan, 6 April 1998, 19:30 gmt

[Ends]

[The material contained in this communication comes
to you via IRIN West Africa, a UN humanitarian information
unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of
the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN-WA Tel:
+225 21 73 66 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci
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IRIN reports are archived on the Web at: http://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc
or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail
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Sierra Leone President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah said
on Monday security in the eastern part of Sierra Leone
and the general food situation were his government's
key concerns, according to AFP. Stopping over in the
Guinean capital, Conakry, on his way to Freetown, Kabbah
said the situation was gradually returning to normal.
Kabbah was expected to meet Guinean President Lansana
Conte before heading home on Tuesday. He spent 10 months
in exile in Conakry following the May 1997 coup d'etat.

UN maintains arms embargo

The UN Security Council voted on Monday to maintain
an arms embargo on Sierra Leone despite the return
to civilian rule, news organisations reported. The
acting president of the Security Council, Hisashi Owada
of Japan, said lifting the embargo was not in the interest
of Sierra Leone, because of continued fighting. It
would also allow the junta to start importing more
arms into the country leading to "intensification
of the war", AFP reported. The decision to maintain
the arms embargo was said to have come at Kabbah's
request, the BBC said. Travel restrictions on members
of the ousted junta have also been maintained.

Twenty-one Sierra Leoneans charged with treason

Twenty-one Sierra Leoneans have appeared in court in
Freetown and been charged with treason in connection
with last year's coup d'etat, according to news reports.
The defendants included several people who held ministerial
positions in the ousted Armed Forces Revolutionary
Council (AFRC) government. Two women, Olivia Mensah
and Dalinda Lebbie, were accused of spying for the
junta, while two men were charged with murder and arson,
PANA reported. Former attorney-general Claude Campbell
did not appear in court due to illness. The case was
adjourned to 14 April. Treason is a capital offence
in Sierra Leone. Kabbah has not yet said whether he
will use his powers of clemency in the event of convictions.

Humanitarian aid continues

A total of 1,300 mt of assorted food commodities is
currently available in Sierra Leone with an additional
3,000 mt in Conakry, WFP reported. During the last
week in March, WFP released more than 400 mt of assorted
food commodities to the French NGO, Action Contre la
Faim (ACF), for use in six wet feeding centres catering
for some 20,000 children aged under five and 10,000
adults in the most vulnerable communities in Freetown.
A one-month ration was distributed to some 10,000 vulnerable
persons in Makeni, 150 km north of Freetown, through
the NGOs, Concern and CARE.

The WFP report said prices of locally produced commodities,
such as palm oil, were decreasing in Freetown in part
due to the availability of fuel for transport. However,
the price of rice was rising as stocks of the last
harvest were being depleted.

LIBERIA: Key roads and bridges to be rehabilitated

WFP announced the launch of a logistics operation focusing
on rehabilitating 600 km of key roads and 19 bridges
in Liberia to improve accessibility to designated resettlement
areas. WFP will focus on four important routes: Gbarnga
to Voinjama, Voinjama to Kolahun, Zwedru to Harper,
and Pleebo to Barclayville. The one-year project will
be carried out in conjunction with Swiss Disaster Relief
and the Liberian government at a cost of US$ 6.3 million.
WFP said the project would facilitate the repatriation
and return of internally displaced to their home areas.
Meanwhile, targeted food aid will be distributed as
the reinstallation and resettlement of populations
takes place.

GUINEA: Opposition to boycott parliament

A statement released by the Guinean opposition coalition,
the Coordination de l'Opposition Democratique en Guinee
(CODEM), said it had decided "unanimously"
on Monday to boycott the on-going parliamentary session,
AFP reported. The decision followed the refusal by
the president of the national assembly to allow CODEM
to air its views on the situation in the country. The
statement added opposition members would not return
to the national assembly until their colleagues were
released from jail. Five members of parliament, including
Mamadou Ba, leader of the Union pour la Nouvelle Republique
(UNR), were arrested in the course of the past two
weeks.

NIGER: Teachers on strike

Teachers in Niger have begun an indefinite national
strike to press their demands for the payment of salary
areas, the BBC reported on Monday. Schools were due
to re-open after the holidays, but students who turned
up for classes were told to go home until further notice.
Niger President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara recently met
a parents' delegation which urged him to listen to
the teachers' demands. AFP reported Tuesday that nearly
40,000 civil servants were still owed pay for January
and February.

WEST AFRICA: Power shortages worsening

Benin's minister of mines and energy, Emmanuel Golou,
said on Monday power shortages had worsened considerably
in Benin, AFP reported. He said Benin was coping with
less than a quarter of its power needs. Residents in
the capital, Cotonou, currently receive barely two
hours of power supply per day. The European Union,
Germany and the West African Development Bank have
provided aid to enable Benin increase its power-generating
capacity. The government of Cote d'Ivoire pledged last
week to supply Benin and Togo with 50 megawatts of
power. However, work will have to be done on power
supply lines between Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana before
Cote d'Ivoire can make good on its pledge.

Meanwhile, the Ghanaian ministry of mines has signed
a contract with a British-based company, Aggeko PLC,
for the supply of 30 megawatts of power to the country,
PANA reported on Tuesday, quoting a ministerial statement.
The company, which specialises in providing emergency
power services, will set up a facility near the Tema
harbour and begin operations within six weeks. It will
supply continuous power to industrial and mining consumers.

Benin, Togo and Ghana depend on the Akossombo hydro-electric
dam in Ghana for their power. The water levels of the
dam have dropped drastically, resulting in a sharp
decline in power output.

Debate on the future of the CFA Franc

The French foreign ministry on Monday said it would
seek to defuse fears about the future of the CFA Franc
at a meeting of finance ministers on 9 April in the
Gabonese capital, Libreville, AFP reported. The introduction
of the single European currency, euro, in France in
1999 would not impact on the currency used in most
French-speaking African countries, commonly known as
the CFA Franc, the ministry added. French Finace Minister
Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Vice-Minister for Cooperation
Charles Josselin are expected to attend the Libreville
meeting.

Strauss-Kahn said parity between the CFA Franc and the
French Franc was a French treasury matter and therefore
would not adversely impact on the African currency
in 1999. Meanwhile, former French prime minister Pierre
Messmer said a devaluation of the African currency
was to be expected if economies cannot adjust to a
high-value currency like the euro. He predicted that
the European Union would refuse to take on France's
treasury commitments with its former French colonies.

[The material contained in this communication comes
to you via IRIN West Africa, a UN humanitarian information
unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of
the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN-WA Tel:
+225 21 73 66 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci
for more information or subscription. If you re-print,
copy, archive or re-post this report, please retain
this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts
should include attribution to the original sources.
IRIN reports are archived on the Web at: http://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc
or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail
to archive@dha.unon.org . Mailing list: irin-wa-updates]